I've taken its twin sister ship - Rhapsody of the Seas - from Shanghai to Japan and Korea. Based on that experience, RCI is one-up of Star Cruise.

Star Cruise is fine and decent.
Just that RCI is a notch better overall.

Of course the experience also depends on staff as well, and I'm not sure what crew is deployed on the ASEAN side. So that's the only unknown factor.

Ship-wise, it's also a notch better than Star Cruise SuperStar Virgo.
RCI however has even much more super class and super size ships elsewhere.

But one thing's for certain - it can't be bad

Thank you so much for the information. The cruise that I had gone so far was Sun Cruise which had already sunk and gone. I had already book the RCI cruise so I am quite excited to find out more information. Appreciate your feedback.

Thank you so much for the information. The cruise that I had gone so far was Sun Cruise which had already sunk and gone. I had already book the RCI cruise so I am quite excited to find out more information. Appreciate your feedback.

Yup, default prices on board are in USD - since the ships are often redeployed to various regions of the world, depending on the season.

However, it's not much of a problem since most monetary needs are handled via credit cards. And if you do need to change money to go offshore, the onboard money changer can help - but of course changing some notes back home before the trip always gets you better mileage.

As for the gratuity charges - there are 2 ways to pay this and also depending on who's the tour agent making the arrangements. You can actually pre-pay your gratuity when you are booking the trip so that you don't have to necessarily pay any further tips and of the sort unless you really feel like it. The other option is don't pay up front and settle this while onboard later. There's a general guidance on how much and how it's calculated. IIRC, it's a rate multiplied by the number of days and number of people in your charge.

Hope it helps.

Cheers!

hoonming wrote:

Hi Dr. Vijay,

My friend told me that currency used on board is US Dollar, is it true?

i taken their cruises b4 in the caribbean. one think to note is when u board the ship, they will keep pestering you to get that unlimited drinks package which imo is very not worth it since you get free tea/coffee/juices at the buffet places, unless you need coke that badly.

Just book Legends of the Sea cruise that is setting off this 28 Dec 2010 at the Natas Journeys Summer Fair held today and tomorrow (May 2010)

My family and I have not been on Caribbean cruise before. However, we have been on Star cruises.

Based on what we asked the promoters, we understand that the difference between Caribbean cruise and Star cruise is
1) Caribbean cruise cabin is bigger

2) Prices are more inclusive. For example on board star cruise, we need to pay S$6/hr when my girl goes to the child care. But this is free on Caribbean cruise. So it is great for family with children.

3) You can do room order (snacks like chicken wing) and it is free of charge as long as it is not from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m.

Yes, things are billed in USD on board. We ask how much does a coke cost, the sales staff said US$1 plus. So we think is still ok.

I guess we are really excited to go on the cruise as part of the experience. Because it is countdown cruise, there should be special food.

If anyone is looking for Natas Fair Journeys Summer 2010 travel brochures, you can find it here:

Hi! If anyone's interested, I heard that Royal Caribbean is currently having a $3 room upgrade promo! So you can upgrade your cabin from a Balcony class to a Junior Suite for just $3 more. Came across this when I saw their roadshow last week. Hope this is helpful (:

Just book Legends of the Sea cruise that is setting off this 28 Dec 2010 at the Natas Journeys Summer Fair held today and tomorrow (May 2010)

My family and I have not been on Caribbean cruise before. However, we have been on Star cruises.

Based on what we asked the promoters, we understand that the difference between Caribbean cruise and Star cruise is
1) Caribbean cruise cabin is bigger

2) Prices are more inclusive. For example on board star cruise, we need to pay S$6/hr when my girl goes to the child care. But this is free on Caribbean cruise. So it is great for family with children.

3) You can do room order (snacks like chicken wing) and it is free of charge as long as it is not from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m.

Yes, things are billed in USD on board. We ask how much does a coke cost, the sales staff said US$1 plus. So we think is still ok.

I guess we are really excited to go on the cruise as part of the experience. Because it is countdown cruise, there should be special food.

If anyone is looking for Natas Fair Journeys Summer 2010 travel brochures, you can find it here:

Has anyone here ever tried a fly cruise before? I chanced across this deal that rci's having, which is a fly cruise promotion around fiji for $2k-ish only! Apparently you'll take a plane to somewhere in Fiji, then board the cruise from there, then continue cruising around Fiji. Sounds pretty cool!

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